Twilight 月 Incandescent Moon

Chapter 23: The Ending of a New Beginning

(song - Hellsing Opening)

Chapter 23 - The Ending of a New Beginning

Lilia

"That was...pretty easy." Tiernam spoke in shock as we watched the black coats disappear from our sight all together.

"And you're still alive." I noted, "Although your heart had been racing about a gazillion miles per second."

"Wait, that's what you meant by 'die' ?" He asked.

"Yep." I answered. "And here is where, if you were as old as Carlisle, I would insert a joke about your blood preasure."

"Shouldn't I be saying that about you? Your heart was pounding as well." Tiernam countered, but one of his 'oh, no' looks on his faces came acrossed when he realized he might of gone a little too far.

I put my hands on my hips. "How old do you think I am?" I demanded a reply out of him.

"There's no right answer for this, is there?" He asked, dreading the response he might get out of me.

"Just answer the question." I pressed.

"Nineteen?" He guessed.

I blinked at him. "Wow. That makes me feel better about myself."

"Wha...?" Tiernam mouthed. "Then how old are you really? If it's anything over thirty..." he implied, putting his hands over his ears as if he was afraid to hear the real number.

"Oh, quit it." I snapped. "Plus, I saw you checking out Roaslie when we stopped back at the Cullen's and she's WAY older than me. Like, a hundred years older than me." I told him and his face twisted into a mix of emotions. "And for your information, I'm twenty one."

"Twenty one?" He echoed.

I continued to stare at him.

"I guess that's not too bad..." Tiernam muttered.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Guess? Not TOO bad?" I threw the words back his way.

"I..." He stuttered, wondering how he would ever get out of this situation.

"As much as we like standing out here in the cold," Peter inturrupted our argument. "Shouldn't we be going to the Cullen house to let them know everything's taken care of?" he suggested to me.

I thought about it for a moment. "Vampires don't get cold." I stated, staring at him with accusing eyes. Then I lit up the mood. "But yeah, we probably should be going back to the house." I grinned.

Forks was litterally a hop, skip, and jump from the field. Once we'd gotten over the river that divided the Olympic coven land and Quileute territory, it was a simple matter of going through the woods up to Carlisle's home. At the front door, he was waiting for us along with Esme. Pixie managed to squeeze around the couple and skip out to greet the group. The others came strolling around the sides of the house, or in Emmett's case, jumped out a window.

"Lilia! I'm so glad your safe!" Alice wrapped her arms and me and gave me a big hug, her manicured fingernails digging into my back.

"Ow." I muttered when she let go. I stepped back and brushed myself off.

"I assume that you persuaded Aro to return to Italy?" Carlisle asked as he approached, Esme glued to his side. Edward and Bella were next to walk up.

"No Edwardo! I want to tell them." I cut him off before he even thought of filling in the details without my permission.

Bella's eyes flickered between her partner and I. "I see you haven't lost your sense of humor." she commented, earning a grin from her mate. At her side, Renesmee giggled.

Ignoring her, I went on to fill the others on the details of what happened at Severn's mansion, then my second encounter with Aro. Caslisle was particularlly interested in the part about silver stakes and thanked me for the information. I had no doubt that the next few years would be chaotic as I tried to gain control over the Alp populace. There were sure to be rouges, just like vampires, that liked to cause trouble. If any found their way to Forks, the vampires knew how to take care of them.

"What are your plans now?" Caslisle asked after all the explanations and aquainting was over with. "You've learned your origins and stopped a war. There doesn't seem to be anything left for you to do."

"Other than claiming my rightful spot as leader of the Alps." I reminded him. "Without a ruling figure, they'll do as they please. They could even destroy the human society if I left them."

"It's good to see you taking responsibility." The doctor noted, smiling at me. "Wherever you go, don't forget to visit us---your second family." 

I nodded, agreeing that I would if I could. When it came to the question to what Tiernam was going to do, he admitted that he was going to be traveling with me.

"You two will be wonderful together." Alice beamed. "I can see it."

"Future-seeing or normal eyes?" I countered.

She gave a small laugh. "Normal." Pixie told me.

Jasper was busy talking to Peter and Charlotte off to the side while the others were gathered around Kate and Garret, talking up a storm with them. None of them were really paying attention to us other than Alice. She winked at me before turning her back on the two of us, walking up between Rosalie and Bella. My pixie haired friend immediately started chatting it up with the group, distracting them even more.

"Come on." I told Tiernam, pulling his arm along with me. He had no choice but to go in the direction I was tugging.

"Why? Shouldn't we say goodbye?" He answered me in a whipser.

"Nah." I shook my head. "I've never been very good at goodbyes anyways and it isn't like I'll never see them again."

He nodded and together we quietly snuck into the shadows, heading back South towards Wulf.

Carlisle

I smiled gently when I saw Channel 3's foreign news report on the television.

....Experts are baffled at what looks like a ghostly figure of a woman. As you can see here in this picture, she is clearly standing on the steeple of this fourteenth century German castle. Wearing a white lace gown of the same era, ....

"She just couldn't resist, could she?" I sighed to Esme, shaking my head.

"Ha!" Emmett laughed when he noticed the tv. "Lilia, that's the best prank I've ever seen."

"As long as she doesn't get caught and the reporters don't find out that she's as solid as she looks." Edward added with Bella at her side.

"So she'll wear a dress to fool the world, but she won't wear one of my gorgeous gowns to her graduation party?!" Alice almost exploded with hystery, muttering 'how dare she(s)' and 'ugh(s)!' as she paced throughout the room.

"I still don't like that she left without saying goodbye." Seth commently sadly, hating himself for not being there when she'd checked in only to leave.

"You couldn't have known." I patted his shoulder before walking over to the window to gaze out of it with Esme.

There was a year, in human standards, before the vampire and Alp world calmed down. Especially the Alps. It took them quite a bit of time to get used to their new, eccentric leader. When the mysterious bar murders dropped to their usual levels and we hardly caught sight of an Alp in California, I knew Lilia had succeeded in reigning in her people. 

One day, Seth came bursting into the clearing in his wolf form, chasing after a small white animal who'd managed to outsmart him. It darted across the snow in front of my home, making him zig-zag after it. The creature dashed between his legs and because of the way our shapeshifter friend had jerked his head to go after it, he slipped and fell into a heap. The little artic fox stopped in front of his massive head and kicked snow into his face with its back feet, mocking him. 

Then the she-fox turned around and promptly sat down facing him, a twinkle in her eye. Seth couldn't have been happier to see that michevious ball of fluff and looked forward to her visits every Winter.